[HISTORY: Adopted by the City Council of the City of Altoona
as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where applicable.]
[Adopted 7-28-1987 by Ord. No. 4990]
For the purpose of this article, the following terms, phrases,
words and their derivations shall have the meanings given herein.
When not inconsistent with the context, words used in the plural number
shall include the singular number and words used in the singular number
shall include the plural number.
Any individual, corporation or other entity located within
the City of Altoona or who conducts business within the City of Altoona
when said business involves duties, including altering, installing,
maintaining, repairing, replacing, selling, servicing, responding
to or monitoring an alarm system.
Any person or persons or other entity engaged in the sale
and installation, maintenance, alteration, repair, replacement or
servicing of alarm systems or who respond to or monitors such alarm
systems.
Any equipment or device designed to detect and signal an
unauthorized intrusion into a premises or to signal an attempted robbery
or holdup at protected premises or which is designed to detect a fire
or any emergency that alerts a municipal organization of its own commission
or occurrence and when activated gives a signal, either visual, audible,
or both, or transmits or causes to be transmitted any signal.
Any device, bell, horn or siren which is attached to the
interior or exterior of a building and emits a warning signal audible
outside the building and designed to attract attention when activated
by a criminal act or other emergency requiring police or emergency
vehicles to respond.
An electrically operated arrangement connected to an alarm
system composed of sensory apparatus and related hardware which automatically
transmits a voice and/or digital alarm direct to the City of Altoona
Police Department or City of Altoona Fire Department utilizing a designated
trunk line.
The City of Altoona.
A leased line arrangement interconnecting an alarm system
to the Communications Center of the Police and Fire Departments for
the purpose of signaling alarms.
A telephone line servicing the Communications Center of the
Police and Fire Departments.
Any signal activated by an alarm system, any audible alarm
or any other kind of direct or indirect signal given the police or
municipal Communications Center to which police or firemen respond
which is not the result of a burglary, fire, robbery or similar emergency.
This shall not include an alarm activated by an act of God.
The City of Altoona Fire Department.
A central station protective system or an answering service.
Intermediary shall not include individuals other than central station
protective systems or answering services as defined herein who accept
recorded messages from alarm systems at their homes without consideration
or such individuals are neither trained operators nor are acting in
a compensated or official capacity. They shall include monitoring
systems maintained by the alarm industry or alarm businesses.
The Police Communications Room or other rooms which house
the communications equipment into which alarms or communications are
transmitted for response by police, firemen or other emergency services.
The City of Altoona Police Department.
A.Â
The City of Altoona may choose to establish a designated trunk line
or separate phone line keyed to the (police) Communications Center.
The purpose of this separate phone line or designated trunk line will
be to handle all alarm transmissions. Upon proper notice to permit
holders of the identification of this designated trunk line, all automatic
telephone tape dialer devices that transmit recorded messages directly
to the Police or Fire Departments shall, within 90 days of notice,
be keyed or arranged to transmit these messages to the designated
trunk line only.
B.Â
Any person who has an automatic telephone tape dialer protection
device in the City of Altoona may arrange to have such device keyed
to an intermediary monitoring station to relay emergency messages
to the Police or Fire Department.
(1)Â
The relay of messages as outlined above shall be on a person-to-person
basis.
C.Â
If said automatic telephone tape dialers are programmed to automatically
telephone designated numbers upon activation, all said devices shall
be programmed so that the first (priority) telephone call shall be
forwarded to the City of Altoona Police Department on their designated
telephone line. If said automatic telephone tape dialers are equipped
and programmed to, upon activation, make two or more telephone calls
contemporaneously, then one of said contemporaneous calls shall be
the City of Altoona Police Department.
D.Â
Any alarm business or company which does business within the City
of Altoona who maintains an intermediary answering service or monitoring
station which can receive signals from an alarm device located within
the City of Altoona shall provide to the City of Altoona's Communications
Center, within 30 days after the effective date of this article, the
address, business affiliation and telephone number of all intermediary
answering services or monitoring stations whose responsibilities include
receiving messages or signals from an alarm device located within
the City of Altoona and, further, whom transmit messages unto the
Communications Center of the City of Altoona.
A.Â
It shall be unlawful for a property owner, lessee of property, or
a person otherwise occupying a premises within the City of Altoona
to put an alarm device into operation on his/her premises or to allow
an alarm device into operation on his/her premises without first obtaining
an alarm device permit from the City of Altoona Police Department.
It shall also be unlawful for a property owner, lessee of property
or a person otherwise occupying a premises outside the City of Altoona
to put an alarm device which terminates at the City of Altoona Police
Department into operation on his/her premises or to allow such an
alarm device to be put into operation on his/her premises without
first obtaining an alarm device permit from the City of Altoona Police
Department. A separate permit shall be required for each separate
location where an alarm system is present.
(1)Â
A waiver of the above provision can be granted, upon showing of just
cause, by the City of Altoona Police Department.
B.Â
In order to apply for an alarm device permit, a person must submit
an application to the City of Altoona Police Department stating the
following:
(1)Â
His/her name.
(2)Â
His/her home and business address and telephone number of each.
(3)Â
The location at which the alarm device will be installed and operated.
(4)Â
The names, addresses and telephone numbers of at least two individuals
who have keys to the premises at which the alarm device is located
and who are authorized to enter the premises at any time, but who
do not reside at the location of the alarm device.
(5)Â
If the alarm device is to be leased or rented from, or is to be serviced
pursuant to a service agreement by a person or company other than
the person or company making application for an alarm device permit,
the name, address and telephone number of that person or company.
C.Â
A person applying for an alarm device permit shall submit an annual
fee in an amount established by resolution of the City Council, along
with his/her application to cover the cost of issuing each permit.
D.Â
The City of Altoona Police Department shall, within 10 weekdays from
receipt of an application for an alarm device permit, either grant
an alarm device permit to the applicant or notify the applicant, in
writing, that his/her application has been denied and the reason or
reasons why it has been denied.
E.Â
Notwithstanding the language contained in Subsection A of this section, it shall not be unlawful for a person to continue to operate an alarm device on his/her premises without an alarm device permit for a period of 90 days after the effective date of this article, provided that said alarm device was in operation on the effective date of this article.
F.Â
The City of Altoona Police Department shall have the power to revoke
an alarm device permit for violations as outlined in this article.
An alarm device permit shall be revoked by notifying the permit holder,
in writing, that his/her alarm device permit has been revoked and
the reason or reasons why it has been revoked. Such written notice
shall be:
G.Â
An alarm device permit may only be revoked for the following reasons:
(1)Â
Failure of an alarm device to conform with the operational standards set forth in § 171-4 of this article.
(2)Â
Failure of a permit holder to pay a false alarm charge assessed to him/her by the City of Altoona Police Department under the provisions of § 171-6 of this article within 30 days of the mailing to him/her of a notice of the assessment of a false alarm charge.
(3)Â
The occurrence of more than 10 false alarms from an alarm device
during any calendar year.
(4)Â
The occurrence of an intentional and malicious false alarm caused
by the permit holder or by an individual over the age of 15 who resides
on the premises where the alarm device is located.
H.Â
A person who has had his/her alarm device permit revoked under Subsections F and G of this section may reapply for an alarm device permit 45 days after the effective date of such revocation; provided, however, that if a person's alarm device permit was revoked for nonpayment of a false alarm charge or for nonpayment of a permit fee, or both, the City of Altoona Finance Department shall deny said application unless such charge or fee, or both, have been paid. Notwithstanding the foregoing, a person who has had his/her alarm device permit twice revoked on the basis of an occurrence of an intentional false alarm may not reapply for an alarm device permit for one year from the effective date of the second revocation.[2]
A.Â
If an alarm device is designed to cause a bell, siren or sound-making
device to be activated on or near the premises on which the alarm
device is installed at the time it gives an alarm, said alarm device
shall be designed to deactivate the bell, siren or other sound-making
device after 10 minutes of operation. Further, an audible alarm shall
be designed so that it can be reasonably heard throughout the entire
location of the premises.
B.Â
All alarm devices shall meet the applicable standards of the Underwriters
Laboratories and/or the National Fire Protection Association, and/or
other recognized industry standards. The applicant for a permit may
be required to submit evidence of the reliability and suitability
of the alarm device.
C.Â
The sensory mechanism used in connection with an alarm device must
be adjusted to suppress false indications of fire or intrusion, so
that the alarm device will not be activated by impulses due to transient
pressure change in water pipes, short flashes of light, wind noises,
such as the rattling or vibrating of doors or windows, vehicular noises
adjacent to the premises, or other forces unrelated to genuine alarm
situations.
D.Â
The alarm device must be maintained by the permit holder in good
repair to assure reliability of operation.
It shall be unlawful to cause an intentional and malicious false
alarm.
B.Â
When a false alarm occurs, the City of Altoona Police Department,
within 10 days from the date of each false alarm, shall notify the
permit holder of the alarm device from which the false alarm emanated
that a false alarm charge is due and the amount thereof, if any. Such
notice shall be in writing and mailed to the permit holder at his/her
last known address by regular mail, postage prepaid. Failure of the
City of Altoona Police Department to mail notice of assessment of
a false alarm charge within 10 days from the occurrence of a false
alarm shall preclude the City of Altoona from assessing a false alarm
charge for said false alarm.
C.Â
Upon notification of assessment of a false alarm, the permit holder
shall have five days to contact the City of Altoona Police Department
and offer an explanation or defense as to the allegation of false
alarm. Within five days after said defense is presented in writing
or in person, the City of Altoona Police Department shall notify the
permit holder of its final decision.
D.Â
A false alarm charge shall be due and payable at the office of the City of Altoona Finance Department 30 days from the date of the mailing of the notice of assessment of the false alarm charge or 30 days after notification following a meeting as described in Subsection C above.
F.Â
After four false alarms within any twelve-month period, a permit
holder shall, upon request, provide, in writing, what efforts have
been made to prevent the occurrence of further false alarms. If the
permit holder fails to adequately assure the City, to the City's
reasonable satisfaction, that proper measures are being conducted
by a qualified person to correct the deficiency or deficiencies within
the alarm system which deficiency is the source of the false alarm
or other problem as designated by the City, the City may, at its discretion,
revoke the subject permit.[1]
The issuance of any permit shall not constitute acceptance by
the City of Altoona of any liability to maintain any equipment, to
answer alarms or for anything in connection therewith.
Whenever, under the provisions of this article, the City of
Altoona Police Department is empowered to make a decision with respect
to the installation, operation or maintenance of any alarm device,
or with respect to the denial or revocation of any permit relating
thereto, any applicant for a permit or permit holder aggrieved by
said decision may, within 10 days following said decision, file a
written appeal therefrom with the City Manager of the City of Altoona,
whereupon the City Manager shall promptly conduct a hearing and affirm,
modify or reverse the decision appealed from. The decision of the
City Manager shall be final.
For all offenses and violations not otherwise specified, the
penalty shall be a summary offense punishable by a fine not less than
$100 nor more than $1,000 or a prison term not to exceed 90 days,
or both.
